Rochester grade schools offer free breakfast

ROCHESTER — It's 8 a.m. at Chamberlain Street School when Mary Horton, cafeteria worker, opens the door to the kitchen to reveal a long line of elementary schoolers.

Kindergartners through fifth-graders file through the kitchen, choosing their breakfasts from milk, orange slices, cheese and ham bagel melts and a variety of cereals. Students sit at tables or on the floor to eat, talk with friends and play games before school starts.

It seems like a typical elementary school scenario. However, breakfast is free for all students at the eight elementary schools in Rochester.

Rochester is able to do this because of funding from the School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program, federal initiatives that provide participating schools with federal funds to offer free and reduced breakfasts for low-income students.

A Jan. 15 report from the Food Research and Action Center showed that for the first time nationally more than 50 percent of students who participated in the lunch program also participated in the breakfast program during the 2011-2012 academic year. The programs require the same application, but the breakfast program is underutilized in most states because it is newer and more complicated to provide.

In New Hampshire, only 38.2 percent of students in the free and reduced lunch program also participated in the breakfast program. The Granite State has the second lowest participation rate in the country, after Utah.

This disparity in participation means that many low-income children are not getting the food they need to start the day.

“For many kids, school is their only regular place to get a meal,” Erika Argersinger, Public Policy Director of the Children's Alliance of New Hampshire, said.

Cheri White, administrator for the N.H. Department of Education's Bureau of Nutrition, cites transportation issues, timing, staff available in schools and the community not seeing a need for the program as some current issues.

“Implementing the breakfast program is traditionally harder in rural area schools,” Erika Argersinger, Public Policy Director at the Children's Alliance of N.H., said. “Breakfast is usually before school starts and many kids have long bus rides and may only arrive just in time for classes.”

At Chamberlain Street School, most kids arrive in time to grab their free breakfast. However, Tom Tanner, Director of Dining Services for Rochester School District, says the school is continuing to work to reach more students. At Chamberlain, 51.77 percent of students were eligible for free or reduced meals, according to the N.H. Department of Education.

“We're willing to do whatever it takes to make sure kids are ready to learn,” he said. “The Rochester community has a lot of low-income families. Anything we can to help the children in the school districts is great.”

Providing breakfasts for students is a big initiative because of its nutritional and academic value for students, according to Argersinger.

“At the basic level, if the child is sitting there hungry, they're not going to concentrate,” she said. “The lack of proper breakfast has been shown to do everything from improving test scores to increasing focus to decreasing emotional and behavioral problems as well as nutritional benefits.”

Children's Alliance of N.H. is working to improve participation in these programs. They work with parents, school boards and the Legislature to better implement or adapt the program for different school's situations.

“Overall, we want to raise awareness in terms of access and nutrition by sharing information about successful strategies,” said Argersinger. “There are alternative ways of proving breakfast. Some schools have breakfast in the classroom, others have earlier snack times where kids can go to the cafeteria for breakfast, and some are even able to offer breakfast on the school bus.”

At Chamberlain, the cafeteria is left open all morning and if a teacher or nurse finds a child hasn't eaten they'll be sent to get food. Tanner also is working on serving breakfast in the classroom, where he says it would really show an impact.

In Rochester, Tanner says peer pressure and stigma are not a problem, like they are elsewhere. Students who receive free or reduced-price meals simply punch in their number like all the other students; they are simply charged less. The real challenge is getting parents to sign up.

“It's really just getting parents to accept that maybe they need assistance sometimes,” Tanner said. “If it helps out the child, that's the bottom line.”

While only Rochester elementary schools offer free breakfasts for all students, all schools in the district offer free and reduced breakfasts and lunches for students who meet the federal qualifications. Families whose income is 130 percent of the poverty level or below receive free meals, while families that earn between 130 and 185 percent are eligible for meals at a reduced cost, which does not exceed 40 cents.

This means that students coming from a family of four with an income under $29,965 are eligible for free meals, while a family of four with an income under $42,643 qualify for reduced price meals for their children.

Schools participating in the breakfast and lunch programs receive federal reimbursements for each meal served, whether they are free, reduced or paid. The state of New Hampshire contributes an additional 3 cents per meal.

This system was designed by the USDA to make the programs function on a balanced budget. However, program cost varies depending on the price of food in the area, thus programs are not always balanced in districts, according to White.

In the case of the Rochester School District, there is a slight surplus of funds. This is why they are able to provide free breakfasts to all elementary schoolers regardless of income.

“Though the funding is tight, we've decided a universally free program is worth it for our children to have full bellies in the morning,” said Tanner.

In N.H., two-thirds of students receive free or reduced price meals at breakfast while one-third pay full price, according to the report.

Nationally, the programs provided over 31.4 million children with free and reduced meals during the last academic year. In 2012, the federal expenditure was $10.4 billion.

The programs require a set of nutritional standards to be met by participating schools. The standards were updated in 2010 to require more whole grains, vegetables and fruits to be offered for students. If a school meets these requirements, they receive an additional six cents in funding per meal, though this only applies for breakfast meals at present, as the standards are still being implemented.

Rochester had no problem implementing the requirements, but Tanner believes other, smaller schools may have had a tough time.

“There were some drastic changes that might have taken some schools by surprise and make it harder,” said Tanner.

However, White has not seen many schools unable to meet the standards, which she attributes to schools having already taken steps toward new, healthier, meal patterns.

Other initiatives are also in place to deal with childhood hunger. Some schools now offer after-school snacks or summer meals, with the help of federal funding. Rochester School District offers a summer meals program for every child under 18, which provides around 200 breakfasts and lunches Monday through Friday.

In addition, community groups such as End 68 Hours of Hunger are working on providing meals for children during the weekend, when free meals are unavailable at schools. The organization provides more than 500 area children with backpacks of food each weekend.